


Hope That Guy is Doing Good

by inawaragainstreality



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22228201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inawaragainstreality/pseuds/inawaragainstreality
Summary: Bev is studying abroad in France for a semester and decides she wants a romantic photo in front of the Eiffel Tower. When Stan refuses to be in the photo, Bev resorts to asking a stranger (Ben) if he'll kiss her for a photo. She thinks it'll be the last time she ever sees him, but little does she know they go to the same college.Based on the twitter thread from @KristinaKuqi
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	1. Paris

“I’m serious, Stan. Go ask him!”

“I’m not asking a random guy to kiss you, Bev. If you want it done so much do it yourself or ask Richie to do it.”

“Richie and I can’t speak French!”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before coming to Paris.”

Bev stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. Richie sighed and sat down next to the artwork. She wanted a romantic photo in front of the Eiffel Tower but didn’t have anyone who would take the photo with her. Stan had flat out refused and while Richie would take the photo, it would just look like a joke.

She wanted it to look like she’d had a romantic fling while abroad. Richie, Stan, and her were spending the semester at a partner university in France and had decided to travel to Paris one weekend. They were studying at an English university so usually they could get around with just Stan’s understanding of the language. _Usually._

When Stan had stopped to look at some artwork of the Eiffel Tower, a couple was having someone take a photo of them kissing. Bev immediately asked Stan if he’d take a photo. When he said no, she told him to ask one of the guys standing near them.

“What if they’re dating each other?”

“Okay? Richie would still kiss me if he was dating someone.”

“Then have Richie do it.” Bev glared at him. “Or practice your French, because I’m not doing it.”

Bev rolled her eyes and crossed to the group of guys. Stan didn’t think she would actually go talk to any of them. Well joke was on him, because she was getting a cute romantic photo from her trip to France, even if it took several embarrassing interactions and some pathetic attempts at French.

Bev stepped up to the group and they fell silent. “Excusez moi, bonjour.” Bev tried not to cringe at her horrible accent. The guys all looked amused at least. “Uh, est-ce que, mmmm, uh, l'un d'entre, um vous parle anglais?

One of the guys immediately started speaking French. Bev could barely make out three words. Two of the guys exchanged a look trying not to laugh, but the fourth just shook his head. “Knock it off, Bill.” Bev turned to the one who spoke, in an American accent. “Is there something we can help you with?”

The guy was tall and hot. _Perfect_. Hopefully he’d be okay with this. Or at least one of the guys, but Bev was drawn to the one who’d asked her what he could help with. “Yes. I’m studying here for the semester with my friends over there.” Bev pointed to Stan and Richie, who were arguing about something. “I want a romantic photo in front of the Eiffel Tower, but neither of them will do it.” Which was only partially true, but these guys didn’t need to know that. “Would one of you be willing to step in?”

The guy blinked. His three friends looked at him. He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. “What do you mean by a romantic photo?”

“Really, Ben?” The one wearing a fanny pack asked. “You’re smarter than that.”

Bev smiled at Ben when he blushed. “Just a kiss. Please? S'il vous plait?” Ben grinned at her poor attempt at French. “I’m Beverly by the way.”

“Ben. It’s nice to meet you.”

And that’s how Bev got a romantic photo with a hot stranger.

* * *

“Holy shit, Bev,” Richie said, looking at his phone. “I can’t believe you got a Brazilian soccer player to kiss you. I kind of wish I had asked.”

“Pretty sure you’d be fine kissing any of those guys.”

“You’re not wrong,” Richie laughed.

“What you will be wrong about is everything on your French test if you too don’t focus and study.”

Richie rolled his eyes and threw a pencil at Stan before speaking in a horrible French accent. “Lighten up. You could use a kiss from un beau gosse. Well more than a kiss.” Stan glared at Richie. “Oh, mon chéri, I’ll kiss you if you want!”

Bev zoned out, knowing Richie and Stan were going to be arguing for a while before they started laughing and joking around. She needed to focus because, unlike Richie, she was going to fail this exam. She should have studied abroad in England or something. Not that she had to take French, but Stan wouldn’t have guilted her into it if they’d been in an English-speaking country.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t focus on studying. She kept looking down at her phone. It wasn’t like the photo was more or less popular than her other posts, but part of her wish she’d met Ben somewhere else. Somewhere she could have asked him out. Instead she let him walk away.

Not that anything could have come from it. She didn’t even know if he were staying in France or Europe at all. Not to mention, he could be from anywhere in the United States originally. Maybe he lived here permanently. _It was just a picture, Beverly, nothing more._

And eventually, she’d stop thinking about the stranger.

By the end of the semester, Bev had done just that. It was just a photo and she’d forgotten everything about the stranger. She couldn’t even remember his name. She’d also forgotten almost all of the French she’d learned while there. After she passed her exam, she just relied on Stanley. And Richie, who, despite not knowing as much, could do a surprisingly good French accent.

“We should go on another trip,” Richie said one of their last days of classes. “We have, what, two weeks before we have to go back to Maine? We could go to London,” Richie paused to switch to an English accent that sounded more Australian than English, “I could fool the towns people with my impeccable accent.”

“Let’s go to Rome!” Bev said, dropping her notes, before listing places she’d heard of. “Imagine the design inspiration. The Sistine Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Galleria Borghese.”

“I have always wanted to see the Colosseum,” Stan muttered, not looking away from his textbook. He highlighted a line before jotting something down in his notebook. Richie rolled his eyes but nodded at Bev’s pleading look.


	2. Rome

Bev was taking more photos than she was going to every use. She’d done the same thing when they’d gotten to Paris. She was thinking of a million different things that she wanted to incorporate and try when designing back home.

Stan was enjoying the trip as much as Bev, if not more. He kept pointing out different birds to them and giving them as much information as he could. He was also telling them about the different sites they visited.

Richie, who had learned a few phrases in Italian before leaving France, kept trying to perfect his Italian accent and convince people he was Italian. He hadn’t been able to convince anyone except for one very confused American.

Stan was currently telling Richie all about the Colosseum while Bev took more than a few photos for reference. She turned to walk back towards Stan and Richie when she saw a couple laughing and kiss for a photo. Bev smiled, remembering the photo she’d gotten in Paris.

“Stan!” She called, getting his attention. She pointed at the couple, but he shook his head. “Please.”

“No!” He yelled back.

“Stan, do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

Bev rolled her eyes, wondering if she would get lucky again asking someone else if she could take a photo with them. She scanned the area and saw two guys who looked like they were waiting for someone. One of them even looked like the guy who’d been in her last photo, except with facial hair. When she got closer, she noticed they were speaking in English.

Bev was more confident approaching these two than last time. At least this time she wouldn’t make a complete fool of herself when she asked them a question. The one with a beard was passionately talking about the architecture of the Colosseum. Bev smiled, it reminded her of when Stan started telling them about a bird he found.

She stopped near enough to them that it was clear she wanted to talk to them and waited for one of them to notice, not wanting to interrupt them too much. The one with a beard turned, going to point something out when he noticed Bev. They both fell silent.

“Sorry to interrupt. I just heard you speaking English and was wondering if I could ask you something.” Bev tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. The one with a beard nodded. “Would either of you mind taking a picture with me?”

“Really?” The other one asked. It wasn’t in a weirded-out way, but more surprised.

“Yeah. So, I really want a cute romantic photo in front of the Colosseum. Kind of just this thing I’m doing while in Europe. Would either of you be open to that?”

The one who had spoken nudged the guy with a beard. He looked between Bev and his friend in surprise before nodding. He stood up, still not speaking. Bev wasn’t sure if he was nervous or if he just felt too obligated to say no.

“Um, I’m Bev. If you’re not okay with this, that’s totally fine.”

“No, no, I am. It’s just, nothing. I’m Ben.” He looked at his friend. “Would you mind taking the photo Bill?”

After Bill took the photo, Bev thanked Ben and made her way back towards Stan and Richie. Whatever Richie was saying, Stan was trying his hardest not to laugh at his comments. Bev sat next to them so she could post the photo. Richie grabbed her phone out of her hand as soon as it was up.

“Oh my god, Bev. He could be the other guy’s brother.”

“I know! It totally looks like I had this wild romance in Europe. No thanks to Stan.”

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me? Had you taken the photo with me you’d look like you were just kissing random guys around Europe.”

“That’s exactly what I was doing.”

“Bev,” Richie interrupted. “I have an idea for a photo, will you take it? You’ve got to be fast though.”

While Bev wanted to ask what he meant, she knew he wasn’t going to take the time. She pointed her phone at him and before Stan had time to react, Richie kissed him. Bev snapped it just in time before Stan shoved Richie away and started to fake gag. She was shaking so hard from laughter, Richie had to take her phone.

“See, Bev, the trick is to just kiss Stan. He’s a man that likes to be surprised and swept off his feet.”

“I doubt you have ever swept anyone off their feet trashmouth.”

Bev already knew what was going to happen before Richie told her. He rushed at Stan, picking him up bridal style. Bev took another photo before Stan could protest. Honestly, the photos looked better than both her photos, but she wasn’t going to tell Richie that. Especially because she was already going to have to listen to Stan and Richie arguing all the way back to their hotel.


	3. America

“This sucks,” Bev groaned, kicking her bag.

Not only was Bev not ready to return back to Maine, the wheel on her luggage had broken. In the grand scheme of things, the wheel didn’t matter, but she might as well complain about it. She’d just spent the entire flight sitting by herself too. Stan and Richie had managed to get seats by each other, but she was stuck by some guy who kept falling asleep on her shoulder.

“No, what sucks is we have to go to Greta’s wedding.” Richie shivered. “Twenty bucks he’s gay. I mean, we don’t even talk to her anymore. She went to our school for a year and,”

“And we were the only ones who talked to her,” Stan interrupted. “Look it’s one day and it’s an open bar.”

Stan didn’t look at them, but she’s certain that he could sense Richie’s eye roll. As much as she didn’t care for Greta, Stan was right. She didn’t have any friends and one night with free liquor wasn’t going to kill them. Plus, Bev wasn’t going to complain about getting dressed up and forcing them to take photos.

Bev dropped on the couch in their shared apartment the minute they got home. Richie grabbed a couple of beers before joining her. Stan went to unpack, mumbling that they should do the same. They’d been gone for months and the last thing Bev wanted to do was unpack. She took one of the bottles from Richie, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

“I hope he sees Patty soon; he needs to get laid,” Richie muttered.

“That’s your solution to everything.”

“Maybe you need to get laid too.”

What Bev really need to do was stop thinking about the Paris and Rome guys. On they way back she kept looking at the pictures and could not believe how similar they looked. If only she’d written down the guy’s name from Paris. All she could remember was his friend’s name. What were the odds it was the same person? Astronomically small. Then again, what were the odds that she would find two people that looked identical on her trip.

It didn’t matter though. She wasn’t going to see either one of them again. She’d debated deleting the posts, but everyone seemed to get a kick out of them, so she just forced herself not to look at them anymore. Something Richie made difficult when he brought it up every few days.

“Do you think we spend too much time together?” She turned to look at him.

“Yes,” Stan yelled from his bedroom.

“Is that a bad thing?”

Bev shrugged, but didn’t answer. She loved Richie and Stan, but they weren’t the best with the more emotional side of things. Richie tried, but would get nervous and start making jokes after a few minutes. And while Bev loved how direct Stan was, it wasn’t always what she needed. Given that she spent so much time with them, it was hard to meet other people and get close to them.

Bev excused herself to get ready. Going to a wedding the night she got back from a trip was bad enough. Having to go after getting back from a year long trip in Europe was even worse. She wasn’t going to complain about how nice it was to take a shower in her own apartment and wear some of her nicer clothes. Bev walked into the living room carrying her heels. Stan was already dressed and ready to go. Richie came walking out wearing his boxers and dress shirt while brushing his teeth.

“Stan do you have a pair of dress socks I can borrow?”

“I’d rather die actually.”

Richie flipped him off before going back to the bathroom. He came out later not looking nearly as nice as either Bev or Stan, but that wasn’t surprising. Bev was just glad he didn’t walk out wearing a tuxedo shirt trying to convince them it was funny _and_ classy.

“Look at my heartbreakers!” Bev laughed, pulling them each into a one arm hug. “Who’s ready to get drunk?”

* * *

“I’m just saying, who serves flaming Dr. Pepper’s at their wedding?” Richie whispered.

“While what kind of idiot puts a piece of paper on top of a flaming Dr. Pepper?” Stan added, staring across the parking lot.

“I know you guys think you’re whispering, but you’re not,” Patty laughed.

They were currently standing outside of the reception hall of Greta’s wedding. They had to evacuate after someone started a fire. Bev didn’t care though. They’d set speakers up outside and started playing music. Patty and Bev had continued dancing despite being surrounded by firefighters, EMTs, and a few police officers. Luckily, the fire hadn’t been too bad, and the response personnel was leaving.

“FUCK, BEV,” Richie yelled and pointed to someone behind her. “That guy looks exactly like your European soccer players!”

Bev whipped around faster than she should have because suddenly the parking lot was spinning. Luckily one of the EMTs was able to catch her. Unluckily, it was the soccer player. Bev almost gasped when she looked up because Richie was right. For all she knew it could have been the guy from one of her photos.

“Hi,” she breathed.

“Are you okay?’

“I am now.” Richie booed from where he was standing. Bev knew it was cheesy, but she really didn’t care. “Weird question, do you have relatives in Europe?”

* * *

Bev was sitting next to the EMT, whose name she learned was Ben, in the back of the ambulance. She was starting to sober up and almost all the other responders had left. Part of her wished there was another emergency so he could stay longer, but knew it was time to say goodbye.

“Ben?” The other EMT walked up to them.

“Sorry, yeah.” Ben stood up before holding a hand out for Bev. “It was nice to meet you Bev.”

“You too, Ben.”

Ben started talking to his colleague and Bev went to join Stan, Richie, and Patty. She should have asked for his number but thought about it too late. He was already getting in the vehicle, ready to leave. The others were staring at her in disbelief.

“What do you need Bev? A shot of liquid courage? Go ask him out,” Richie snapped.

_Fuck._ Richie was right. She couldn’t just let him drive away. She kicked off her shoes and started running towards the truck as they started pulling away. She made eye contact with Ben in the mirror and his partner stopped the truck.

Ben leaned out of the window. “Is everything okay?”

“Can I get your number?” Bev panted. She should really start working out. Ben smiled reached out for Bev’s phone. She stood on the running board, leaning on the window. Ben handed the phone back. “Thanks.” Without giving it a second though, Bev leaned forward and kissed him. 


End file.
